PRACTICAL
W E AR AB LE
LOCAL DESIGNER
ROSEANNE SCHLUSSEL
GOES FROM SEVENTH
AVENUE TO
BIRMINGHAM AND
BACK.
BY CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
80 FALL '87
oseanne Schlussel,
a Birmingham
fashion designer,
sells the clothes
right off her back. Wherever
she goes, people stare and
question her about the clothes
she wears and designs.
The late Tavy Stone, a Detroit
News fashion writer, once saw
Schlussel at the museum wear-
ing her black trench coat with
white piping. Stone was so im-
pressed with the coat, she
featured it in The Detroit News.
A few years ago Margery
Krevsky, co-owner of Produc-
tions Plus, noticed a rust, over-
sized dress Schlussel was wear-
ing. "I really liked it, and asked
her to make it in black. I wore it
whenever I traveled, because it
was so nice and packable,"
says Krevsky. Krevsky wore it
constantly for two seasons
receiving many compliments.
Schlussel has a home studio
in Birmingham and a showroom
on Seventh Avenue in New
York. Her fall collection will be
in several boutiques across the
country. In the metro Detroit
area her collection will be at
Ashley's in downtown Detroit,
The Nick's in Rochester and
most likely in Jacobson's, who
carried the spring 1987 line.
Pieces in the collection sell from
$100- $1000, with the average
dress selling in the $250 range.
She employs about 6-12 local
seamstresses in the area. She
hires many people through the
Jewish Vocational Servive. One
seamstress in an Iranian Jew.
Schlussel is intent upon keeping
the production local so she can
supervise the finishing and
maintain excellent tailoring.
"I work with specific concepts
that I really believe a lot of
designers don't consider — how
women's bodies work; what
lifestyles are; what needs are;
and what our lives are about to-
day. Value in clothes that are
not going to look dated."
Roseanne Schlussel, the
granddaughter of an Orthodox
rabbi, grew up in Queens, New
York. "There was a real sense of
community in Queens," recalls
Schlussel. The homes were
close together. The family used
the city for dance lessons,
visiting the museums, and go-
ing to the theater.
Her father was in the im-
port/export business and her
mother sold Avon products. Her
parents, Claire and Abe Braun
now live in Palm Beach. For ten
years her father read the torah
at Temple Emanuel El in Palm
Beach, Florida.
Schlussel graduated from
Queen's College with a degree
in fine arts. "I wanted to do
something with art that would
be useable," says Schlussel.
She then received a Masters
degree in clothing and textiles
from Cornell University. She
stayed at Cornell as the curator
of the historical and folk
costume collection for one year.
She then went to Seventh
Avenue, New York's garment
district. Typical of young
designers, she moved from one
company to another gaining ex-
perience. She learned about